Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 402. Imposition of forfeitures The Village may impose a forfeiture of not exceeding $25.00 for violation of any bylaw. Such forfeiture may be recovered in an action of tort founded on this charter, brought in the name of the Village, and in any such action a general complaint c…

§ 403. Violations In an action for violation of a bylaw, the process may issue against the body of the defendant and if the defendant is found guilty, and it appears to the court before whom the action is tried that the cause of action arose from willful or malicious act or negle…

§ 501. Grand list The grand list of the ratable estate within said Village as made out by the listers of the Town of Alburgh shall be the grand list of said Village, and the trustees shall cause a copy of such list to be made and filed in the office of the Clerk of said Village w…

§ 502. Assessment of tax on grand list The Village may, at any legal meeting, assess a tax on the grand list of the Village for any of the purposes specified in this charter. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 266, eff. July 1, 2023.)

§ 601. Residency not disqualification to serve No person being a resident or taxpayer of said corporation shall thereby be deemed disqualified to act as judge, justice, juror, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or police officer in any matter, cause, or proceeding in which said …

§ 701. [Transitional provisions relating to adoption of the charter]

§ 702. [Transitional provisions relating to adoption of the charter]

§ 801. Authority to construct and maintain infrastructure The Village of Alburgh is authorized and empowered to construct, extend, renew, and maintain a common sewer or sewers in the Village; to build and maintain sidewalks and curbings along the streets and public highways in th…

§ 802. Eminent domain authority For any of the foregoing purposes, said Village may take, use, or occupy the land of individuals and corporations on making compensation for the taking, and the trustees in the taking of land and in the awarding of damages shall proceed in the mann…

§ 803. Procedures for eminent domain authority In all proceedings under this charter for taking land, rights, or property, the trustees shall pass upon the convenience and necessity for the taking at hearings held by them after giving notice to each owner or interested person of …

§ 804. Assessments for sidewalks and curbs The Board of Trustees in making, altering, or repairing sidewalks and curbs shall have power, subject to the ordinances and bylaws of the Village, on giving 12 days’ notice to the parties interested, of the time and place of hearing, to …

§ 805. Recordation and collection of sidewalk and curbing assessments (a) The Board of Trustees shall, as soon as may be after they have caused the report and assessments to be recorded in the Village Clerk’s office of the Village of Alburgh, place a list of the assessments in th…

§ 806. Taxation for infrastructure improvements The legal voters of the Village of Alburgh, at any annual or special meeting warned for that purpose, may vote a tax upon the grand list of the Village for any of the purposes mentioned in this charter. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 272, …

§ 807. Construction of individual sewer and drain connections The owner of property abutting or adjacent to any street or alley in the Village through which a public sewer has been constructed shall construct under the direction of the trustees a suitable sewer or drain from the …

§ 808. Assessment of sewer service fee The trustees of the Village of Alburgh may, on due notice and after hearing, assess against the property connected with the system in such Village a service fee to be used by said Village for the maintenance, upkeep, and repair of the sewage…

§ 809. Funds for sidewalk and curbing repairs The selectboard of the Town of Alburgh shall, on or before the first day of November in each and every year, draw its order on the Treasurer of the Town of Alburgh for a sum of money equal to 10 percent of the Village grand list, whic…

§ 1. Preface Under authority granted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, the voters of the Bellows Falls Village corporation hereby adopt a charter for the following purposes: (1) To clarify the structure and organization of local government. (2) To define the duties…

§ 10. Treasurer’s and Collector’s duties The Treasurer and Collector shall perform the same duties for said corporation as by law is required of a town treasurer and a collector of town taxes respectively; and shall have the same powers, proceed in the same manner, and be subject…

§ 11. Auditors’ duties It shall be the duty of the auditors of accounts to audit the accounts of the Collector and Treasurer of said corporation; they shall carefully examine the vouchers of the Treasurer and all other records of public funds prior to each annual meeting, and sha…

§ 12. Disqualifications A person being a resident or taxpayer of said corporation shall thereby not be disqualified, solely on that basis, to act as judge, justice, juror, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or police officer in any matter or proceeding in which said corporation …

§ 13. Bylaws and regulations (a) The corporation may enact such bylaws and regulations as are expedient, including those that relate to vehicle traffic and parking of motor and other vehicles on the streets of the Village; to streets, sidewalks, lanes, and commons, and shade and …

§ 14. Penalties; charter and bylaws Fines, forfeitures, and penalties imposed for violations of any of the provisions of this charter or of the Village bylaws may be prosecuted for and recovered in and by an action founded on this section in the Vermont District Court or the Wind…

§ 15. Taxes The Village may, at any annual or special meeting called in whole or in part for that purpose, lay a tax on the grand list of the Town of Rockingham, and the Board of Trustees shall make out a rate bill of all taxes voted by the Bellows Falls Village corporation, in m…

§ 16. Tax abatement The Board for the Abatement of Taxes shall consist of the Board of Trustees, President, Clerk, and Treasurer, and justice of the peace and listers residing in the Village. The act of a majority of a quorum at a meeting shall be treated as the act of the Board.…

§ 17. Police Department (a) The Board of Trustees, and in its stead, the Village Manager, when appointed pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 37, and as may be amended, may establish and maintain a Police Department. Such Police Department shall consist of one Chief of Police and subord…

§ 18. Fire Department The Board of Trustees, and in its stead, the Village Manager when appointed pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 37, and as the same may be amended, may establish and maintain a Fire Department for the protection of life and property. Such Fire Department shall con…

§ 19. Water Department The Village may maintain a Water Department for the purpose of supplying its inhabitants, and as incident to that service, the inhabitants of adjoining towns and the Town of Rockingham, with water for domestic and other purposes, and may purchase and hold a…

§ 2. Amendment and repeal The present officers of the Village shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of the Village, as provided in its bylaws. And its bylaws now in force, insofar as they do not conflict with the provisions of this charter, shall conti…

§ 20. Water rates For the purpose of the support of said Water Department, and to ensure the payment of the annual principal and interest upon any water bonds issued by said corporation, the Board of Trustees shall establish rates to be charged and paid by the users of said water…

§ 21. Application of water management The rents and receipts of said corporation for the use of water shall first be applied to pay the annual principal and interest as it becomes due upon water bonds issued by said corporation, and whenever such rents and receipts shall exceed t…

§ 22. Minard’s Pond It is hereby declared to be unlawful for any person or persons to go upon or into the waters of Minard’s Pond or other ponds, streams, or springs from which the Village derives its supply of water; or to remove fish from Minard’s Pond; or to enter upon the lan…

§ 23. Streets and sidewalks (a) Lighting and the regulation of the highways, streets, and sidewalks located within the corporate limits of said corporation shall be within the control of the Board of Trustees and the corporation shall have the right to use said highways, streets,…

§ 24. Sewerage Department The Village may maintain a Sewerage Department for the purposes of providing its inhabitants, and as incident to that service, the inhabitants of adjoining towns and the Town of Rockingham, with sewerage systems for domestic and other purposes, and may p…

§ 25. Sewerage rates For the purpose of the support of said Sewerage Department and to ensure the payment of the annual principal and interest upon any sewerage bonds issued by said corporation, the Board of Trustees shall establish rates to be charged and paid by the users of sa…

§ 26. Application of sewerage management The rents and receipts of said corporation for the use of sewerage shall first be applied to pay the annual principal and interest as it becomes due upon sewerage bonds issued by said corporation, and whenever such rents and receipts shall…

§ 27. Drains and sewers The Board of Trustees of said corporation may lay out, grade, alter, maintain, and discontinue any sewers or drains in said corporation, and may appraise and settle the damages therefor, causing their proceedings to be recorded in the office of the Clerk o…

§ 28. Refuse disposal The Village is hereby authorized and empowered by and with the consent of the majority of the legal voters of the Village at a meeting legally warned and held for the purpose, to establish, maintain, and operate a dumping ground, for the reception and dispos…

§ 29. Electric utility authorization The Village is authorized and empowered by and with the consent of a majority of the legal voters of the Village, at a meeting legally warned and held for that purpose, to purchase or establish an electric light plant, and for that purpose may…

§ 3. Boundaries and general powers The inhabitants within the bounds of the original first school district in the Town of Rockingham in the County of Windham, and their successors forever, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the “Bellows Falls Vill…

§ 30. Public parks and playgrounds The Bellows Falls Village corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to acquire by gift or purchase land inside or outside the corporate limits of the Village corporation to be held by it and used as a public park and public playground. The …

§ 4. Meetings and warnings (a)(1) Annual meeting. The annual meeting of said corporation shall be held within said Village on the third Tuesday in May of each year at the time and place designated by the Board of Trustees in its bylaws, for the election of officers and the transa…

§ 5. Elected officers’ terms and vacancies (a) The officers of said corporation shall be a Moderator, a President, a Clerk, a Treasurer, a Collector of Taxes, four Trustees, and three Auditors of Accounts. No person shall hold office of Treasurer and Auditor of Accounts simultane…

§ 6. Board of Trustees’ duties (a) The Board of Trustees shall have charge of all prudential affairs of said corporation and perform the duties enjoined upon it by said corporation. (b) The Board shall direct the expenditure of all monies belonging to the Village, and no money sh…

§ 7. President’s duties By virtue of the office, the President shall be a member of the Board of Trustees and shall preside over meetings of the Board of Trustees. In the absence of the President, the Trustees shall elect a chair from among their number.

§ 8. Clerk’s duties It shall be the duty of the Clerk to warn all meetings of said corporation, both annual and special, agreeable to the direction of the Board of Trustees, and to keep accurate records of the proceedings of said corporation, to furnish certified copies of the sa…

§ 9. Moderator It shall be the duty of the Moderator to preside at all annual and special meetings of said corporation, and he or she shall have the same powers as a moderator of town meetings. In the absence of the Moderator, the meeting shall be called to order by a member of t…